Dance with the Shadows
by CrypticGirl
Summary: Cashel has a plan to defeat Senel's group once and for all, and things aren't looking good for the heroes.  MosesxJay, some SenelxChloe. Ch. 3 added 08.17.07.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Tales of Legendia and everything within belongs to Namco.

Chapter 1

"Norma, what the hell are you doing?"

Senel protested vehemently as Norma dragged him and Chloe into the fountain plaza, where all the town citizens had gathered. Norma dragged them through the crowd, directing them to sit in the two chairs in front of the fountain. There was also a man in a brown business suit standing between the chairs.

"Okay, here they are!" Norma called. "This is Senny and C!"

"Senny and C, welcome!" the man said. "I'm Dr. Samsel, a marriage counselor.

Senel and Chloe glanced at each other with wide eyes. "Marriage counselor?" they asked in unison.

"Yes, I am here to rebuild your shattered marriage."

"But...we're not even married..." Chloe protested.

"Oh, you're not?" Samsel seemed taken aback. "Well, it's time to change that. I can help build your relationship to a level that'll land you right in the chapel."

"Uh...you know something?" Senel said. "I don't like you."

"That's good," Samsel replied. "Because I am not here to be your friend."

"Norma, what's the reason for this?" Chloe asked.

"Oh, you know!" Norma said. "I'm just turning you into the lovebirds that you were destined to be!"

"Norma, cut it out!" Senel yelled.

"Now, Senny and C..." Samsel went on. "The key to a good relationship is communication, and the ability to accept each other for who they are. I want you to point out things that you don't like about each other, and then I want you to respond with, 'I can accept that, and my heart is still open'." C, we'll start with you."

Chloe looked at him oddly. She had gotten used to her nickname from Norma, but to be addressed as such by a professional counselor just felt odd.

"My...my name is Chloe..." she said.

Samsel shrugged. "Whatever. Go ahead and tell Senny what you don't like about him."

Chloe looked Senel over for a moment. "W...Well...I...I don't like your pants."

Senel's eyes widened. "Okay...I can accept that, and my heart is still open."

"Very good," Samsel said. "Now Senny, it's your turn. Tell C what you don't like about her."

"Okay..." Senel looked at Chloe for a moment. "Uh...I don't like the hat you're wearing."

Chloe returned the bewildered look. "Oh...uh...I can accept that, and my heart is still open."

"Very good!" Samsel said. "Now it's time to dig a little deeper. C, go ahead."

"You mean I have to come up with something else?" Chloe asked.

"Just do it."

"Oh..." Chloe looked at Senel again. "Oh...I don't like your...self-centeredness."

Now Senel glared at her. "Well, I don't like you calling me 'Coolidge' all the time!"

"Hey, what happened to 'My heart is still open'?" Norma cut in.

"Well, I don't like your arrogance!" Chloe yelled.

"Arrogance? Look who's talking!" Senel responded. "You're the one who nearly sliced me up when you thought I was a bandit! Not to mention that time you shoved your sword up my ass!"

The audience gasped in shock.

"Ugh!" Chloe grunted in frustration. "Despicable! Worthless! Coward!"

Senel stood up. "I'll show you worthless!"

"You don't have to!" Chloe stood up as well. "It's standing right in front of me!"

"Wait a sec! Guys!" Norma called out.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Senel responded to Chloe.

"C, cut it out!" Norma cried, grabbing Chloe.

Also having seen enough, Shirley jumped from the audience, grabbing Senel.

"Senel, please stop!" she cried.

Senel and Chloe continued to lunge at each other, while Norma and Shirley restrained them.

"All right, that's enough," Will said, walking up to the struggling group. "Knock it off, all of you!"

When they still continued to struggle, Will gave each of them a bonk on the head. However, even that didn't stop them.

"Oh my..." Grune gushed. "Everyone's having so much fun!"

Hating to be left out, she joined the chaos, grabbing the others. "Rocking and rolling, whee!"

Meanwhile, Moses and Jay watched the scene from the audience, realizing that they were the only ones who were not fighting.

"Amazing..." Jay muttered. "For once, we're the only ones who aren't fighting..."

"Yeah," Moses agreed. "It kinda makes ya wanna sneak off and do somethin', don't it?"

"Indeed it does. I've no reason to watch this."

Jay and Moses turned and quietly left the plaza.

Meanwhile, Senel and Chloe continued to lash out at each other, while the other party members restrained them. The audience gradually fell silent, listening to the soft rhythm that filled the air. The party members stopped upon hearing the rhythm.

"Oh no...that sound..." Senel muttered.

"It can only be..." Chloe started.

"The BB's!" Norma exclaimed.

Curtis and Isabella landed on the ground.

"Hey, yo, which one of you is starting trouble!?" Curtis demanded.

"Not I," Senel said.

"Not I," Shirley said.

"Not I," Chloe said.

"Not I," Will said.

"Not I," Norma said.

"Oh...we were just playing," Grune said.

Curtis threw his hands out. "But which one of you is starting trouble!?"

Without a word, the group lifted an index finger, pointing to their right. Curtis followed the direction of the fingers and laid eyes on Norma...who was even pointing her index finger at herself.

"Ah ha!" Curtis yelled.

After realizing what she was doing, Norma quickly put her finger away. "Hey, what's the big idea!?"

Curtis danced his way over to her. "Feel the Iron Hammer!"

Unleashing an explosion of power from his body, he sent Norma flying over the fountain. The other party members watched her as she flew over them, hitting the ground behind the fountain.

"There," Curtis brushed his hands together. "Now that that's over with, we have a mission for you."

"Huh?" The entire party was caught off guard.

"Tell 'em, Isabella."

"Yes, Curtis." Isabella stood beside him. "We have reports that Cashel the Phantom is snooping around the Secret Passageway. We'd like you to see what he's up to, and stop him if necessary."

Will nodded. "Understood. Norma, let's go!"

Norma ran out from behind the fountain, still smoking from the attack. "Hey, what was that for!?" she yelled at Curtis. "I demand that you heal me this instant!"

"Why don't you heal yourself?" Senel spat. "You're a crystal eren!"

"Indeed!" Chloe added.

She exchanged glances with Senel, after which they turned their backs to each other. "Hmph!"

"That's enough, you two," Will warned.

"Let's get going and give that phony phantom what's coming to him!" Norma declared.

"Hey, where did Jay and Moses go?" Shirley asked.

"Oh, forget about them," Norma said. "They probably went off to get their freak on."

"Again?" Senel asked. "Well, I guess we can leave them this time. Let's go."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Senel's group (minus Moses and Jay), took the duct to the Secret Passageway. They didn't have to go very far, as they found Cashel waiting right outside the entrance to the ruins.

"Well, well," Cashel chuckled. "It's about time you showed up."

"Cashel!" Senel called as he assumed his fighting pose. "What are you up to!?"

"I'm waiting for all of you," Cashel said. "Wait, what happened to that stupid bandit and that little brat?"

"That's none of your business! Let's go!"

The group faced Cashel, all shining their eres in their fingertips.

"Ah, perfect!" Cashel grinned behind his mask as he pulled out a handgun with a prism attached to the top, and fired a blast at each of the heroes.

The blast hit each party member separately, but instead of harming them, it sent an energy wave rushing through their bodies. The party was confused for a brief second, but after determining that they were unharmed, they went back to their battle stance.

"Is everyone ready?" Senel asked. "Demon Fist!"

He threw a punch towards Cashel, expecting to release his projectile attack.

But nothing came out.

"Huh?" Senel looked at his empty hand, his fingrnails no longer glowing.

"Coolidge?" Chloe asked.

"My eres...it's not working!" Senel cried.

"What?" Chloe looked at her fingertips, but she couldn't get them to glow either. "You're right! My eres doesn't work either!"

"Grave!" Norma yelled.

She tried to cast her quick spell, but it was also useless.

Norma looked at her hands. "Uh-oh...Shirl, what did you do this time!?"

"I didn't do anything!" Shirley snapped. "Besides, my eres is gone, too!"

"Oh dear..." Grune looked at her hands. "Why can't I use my eres?"

"Those blasts that Cashel gave us must have been the cause," Will said.

"Cashel! What have you done!?" Chloe demanded.

"Heh heh heh...look behind you," Cashel chuckled.

"Yeah, right!" Norma spat. "We're not dumb enough to fall for that old trick, are we, G-Girl?"

"Oh...are we dumb?" Grune asked.

Shirley felt something disturbing behind her. Slowly, she turned around.

"Guys!" she gasped.

The others spun around as well, only to face...themselves. The figures stood behind them like grayscale mirror images of themselves. Before the party could react, the figures all threw an uppercut to their stomachs. The party fell to the ground, sliding a few feet.

"Ahh!" Norma screamed. "What the hell is that!?"

"Cashel must have stolen our eres and used it to create those figures," Will said calmly, with a hint of fear in his voice.

"Ladies and gentlemen, meet my new Shadows!" Cashel announced. "As Mr. Raynard said, they are indeed created with your own eres. You peons have finally met your match!"

The group slowly picked themselves up.

"Dammit!" Senel growled.

"We won't lose!" Chloe declared. "We know our skills! So we can beat these imposters!"

"Then let's test your vainglorious boast," Cashel said. "Now, Shadows, attack!"

The shadow imposters rushed in to attack without hesitation. Senel instantly found himself crashing into the rock wall, where his shadow counterpart buried a knee into his stomach. As Senel doubled over, the shadow grabbed his collar and threw him again. This time, Senel correctd himself, rolling forward, then turned around and faced his shadow. As the imposter attacked with a flurry of quick punches, Senel blocked the attacks. However, the shadow's punches were really quick, and eventually broke Senel's defense, striking him in the stomach. The shadow grabbed Senel, roughly throwing him to the ground.

Chloe raised her sword as her shadow flipped over her. When it landed, Chloe rushed on the offensive, swinging her sword at the imposter. The shadow blocked the attacks with her own sword, and then did something that Chloe could never have prepared for.

"Sword Rain Omega!" The shadow yelled in a warping voice, similar to Schwartz. Secondly, the shadow performed the move flawlessly, stabbing Chloe rapidly in multiple points in her body.

Chloe then felt another effect of losing her eres; she was unable to withstand the attacks. When the shadow let up, Chloe stood shakily, her entire body writhing in agony.

"My...my strength..." she muttered weakly as she dropped to her knees, and fell forward to the ground.

Shirley squared herself as her shadow counterpart rushed towards her. The imposter threw an unpredictable front kick, neutralizing Shirley's block. While she was exposed, the shadow threw a hard kick to her abdomen, followed with another kick to her head. Then the shadow threw Shirley over her shoulder. As Shirley got to her knees, the shadow grabbed her, wrapping its arm tightly around her neck. She could feel her consciousness fading as the imposter cut off her breathing. Shirley fell forward, spotting the wounded Chloe just mere inches ahead of her.

"C...Chloe...?" she muttered.

Shirley reached out, grabbing Chloe's sword, then threw an awkward swing behind her, striking the imposter and knocking it off. Shirley quickly jumped to her feet again, and threw a fierce punch to her counterpart's face, following with a side kick to the groin. The shadow quickly backed off, instantly casting a spell.

"Ground Dasher!"

Within seconds, the ground at Shirley's feet began to grumble, and large debris shot up, pelting her brutally. When the spell let up, Shirley collapsed to the ground.

Meanwhile, Norma backed off as her shadow counterpart was advancing on her.

"Hey, come on!" Norma pleaded. "If you really are me, can't we talk about this like, you know...cute girls?"

The shadow began waving her arms, preparing to cast a spell.

Norma wondered what kind of spell the imposter was casting. "Huh? Uh-oh..."

"Meteor Storm!"

"Gyaaaahhh!!" Norma screamed helplessly.

A large flaming meteor flew down from the sky, pounding the ground in front of Norma with an incredible explosion.

"Not agaaaaiiiinnnn!!" Norma screamed as she was sent flying once again.

Will swung his hammer at his shadow counterpart. The shadow grabbed the hammer, ripping it from Will's hands effortlessly. The shadow then thrust his own hammer forward; Will took the hit in the stomach, grabbing the hammer and trying to take it away, but with no success. The imposter swung the hammer back and forth, swinging Will with it. Then with a heavy overhead swing, he sent the historian flying through the air, crashing into the rock wall of the Secret Passageway before hitting the ground.

"Bloody Howling!" Grune tried to cast her spell, but as before, nothing came out. She looked inside her urn, then held it up to the sky and looked inside again. Then she turned it upside down, shaking it. Nothing happened.

Meanwhile, her shadow counterpart stood in front of her, apparently pondering something. Grune stuck her hand inside the urn, only to find that she couldn't pull it back out.

"Oh dear...my hand is stuck."

"Hmm?" The shadow seemed to come to a conclusion. She concentrated for a moment and unleashed a spell. "Maelstrom!"

A blue twister formed around Grune, lifting her into the air in small bursts. When the spell faded, Grune simply dropped to the ground on her back with a thud. Grune simply held up the urn that was stuck to her wrist.

"Easy, squeezy, lemon-peezy..." she muttered.

Norma got to one knee, coughing up smoke. "It's no use...they have our eres!"

"Yeah..." Shirley cried, her voice filled with agony. "How do we fight ourselves!?"

"Especially without eres!" Senel added.

No sooner than the words were out of his mouth, Senel's counterpart grabbed him and threw him into the air yet again. The Alliance Marine crashed on the ground, in a heap with the other party members, near Chloe's body.

"I had no idea we were so strong..." Senel muttered, his voice strained.

"This is not good..." Will added in a similar tone.

"Excellent work, Shadows!" Cashel called. "Now, take them away!"

"We obey!" the shadows responded in unison.

The party members cried out in pain as they were all seized by their counterpart. Then in a puff of smoke, they all vanished from the Secret Passageway.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Author's Note: Finally, a MosesxJay chapter!

Cashel walked into the control room of the Legacy's bridge. "Reporting in, Commander. My plan is working thus far, as I've managed to capture six members of Senel's party."

"Excellent," Vaclav replied. "Six out of eight isn't bad at all. But we need to capture the last two. So long as even one of them remains, our plans could be ruined. By the way, which two still remain?"

"That little brat, and that annoying bandit."

"So my apprentice still remains, eh?" Solon asked.

"That's correct," Cashel replied.

"And you plan to use those shadow creatures to capture him?"

"Precisely."

"Interesting." Solon pondered for a moment. "I think I'll join you, Cashel. I'd like to see my apprentice struggle at the hands of your shadows."

"Yes, I look forward to that as well," Cashel grinned.

"Then let us be off," Solon said. "To the Secret Passageway!"

The two ninjas disappeared in a puff of smoke.

-------------------------

Jay was thrown onto his bed within Quppo's house.

"Ow! Watch it, you idiot!" he cried.

Ignoring his protests, Moses crawled onto the bed. He took hold of Jay's jacket, roughly pulling it off.

"What the--" Jay gasped.

Moses pushed Jay down, kissing his body passionately, then moved up to kiss his lips. Jay watched in shock. As Moses straightened himself, pulling off the equipment from his upper body, dropping it to the floor. Taking hold of Jay's wrists, Moses pulled him up to his knees, and kissed him on the lips, while caressing his back with his hands. As Moses pulled back again, he found that Jay was giggling softly.

"What's so funny?" Moses asked.

"Oh, nothing," Jay responded. "Just the way these matters play out."

"You sure gotta talk stuffy, don't ya?"

"Ah, who cares?"

Embracing each other, Moses and Jay reclined on the bed, fully engaged in a obsessive kiss. They seemed to dive into each other for a moment, then they paused, looking into each other's eyes. Jay reached up, lightly playing with Moses' hair.

"Is this...okay?" he asked.

Moses continued to study Jay's plum-colored eyes. "I love ya, Jay."

"Moses..."

"Yer my little brother, Jay. Yer mine forever." Moses leaned in and kissed Jay on the lips again.

Before they could indulge in their romantic bliss again, they heard a knock on the door.

"Jay!" a small voice called.

"Uh-oh..." Moses quickly rolled off of Jay, now laying beside him. They both grabbed the blanket and pulled it over themselves. Jay fixed the covers so that only his head was visible, facing the door.

The door opened, and the three Scallop Brothers came into the room.

"Jay!" Poppo called. "Cashel is conducting some sort of operation at the entrance to the Secret Passageway! Ors!"

"I see..." Jay said, his voice shaky. "I'll go investigate it. Thank you."

The Scallop Brothers paused, noticing the slight movement under the sheets, and spotting Moses' equipment on the floor.

"Jay?" Quppo asked. "Is someone with you?"

"Well, uh..." Jay stammered.

Moses poked his head out from under the sheets. "Heh heh...hi!" he called, grinning nervously.

The Oresoren tilted their heads in confusion. "Ors?"

"Uh...could you excuse us?" Jay asked.

"Oh, we're sorry," Quppo said.

"Good luck, Jay," Poppo said. "Ors!"

"And be careful," Pippo added.

When the Oresoren left the room, Jay and Moses got out of bed and began to get dressed.

"Just what are those bastards cookin' up this time?" Moses asked.

"We'll find out when we get there," Jay said coldly, pulling on his jacket.

Moses fastened his equipment to his upper body. "Got it, let's go."

The pair left the house to investigate the ruins.

-------------------

Meanwhile, outside the ruins, Cashel and Solon were patiently awaiting the arrival of their next victims. The shadow imposters stood on either side of him, unmoving, silent, and void of all emotion. Everything was quiet until a red soldier came from around the corner and approached them.

"Excuse me, Sir Cashel," he said. "Moses Sandor and Jay the Unseen will be arriving here shortly."

"Excellent," Cashel said. "Now leave my sight! I'll take care of them myself."

"Yes, sir!" The soldier quickly left the area.

Jay and Moses stepped out of the duct a short distance away from the Secret Passageway.

"Hmm, everythin' looks nice and quiet here," Moses remarked.

"We haven't even looked yet," Jay spat. "So let's take a closer look at the ruins."

"Gotcha."

The pair walked over towards the Secret Passageway. As they went around the large boulder by the entrance, then stopped at the shocking sight.

"Well, well," Cashel said. "It's about time you two showed up."

Jay and Moses paused, their eyes open wide. Cashel and Solon stood side by side, with the shadow imposters standing on either side of them.

"Son of a bitch!" Moses exclaimed.

"Thanks for taking the words out of my mouth, Moses," Jay responded.

"Just look at the expressions on their faces," Cashel said to Solon.

"Yes..." Solon agreed. "Now let's get to the action. I tire of waiting."

"Hey, ya want some action!?" Moses stepped forward, raising his spear and letting his fingertips glow. "Bring it on!"

"Moses, wait!" Jay called.

Cashel took his prism gun and fired the blast at Moses. As before, the energy rushed through his body, not really harming his body. Instead, the energy left his body, taking shape on the ground in front of him, creating a shadow imposter of Moses. The new shadow sat up, firing a blast directly into Moses' body, sending him flying backwards several feet. The bandit crashed on the ground sliding another few feet before stopping.

Jay stepped up to him calmly. "Congratulations, Moses. You've just worsened the situation."

Moses got up to his feet. "No way! He sucked up my eres!"

"And they must have done the same with the others," Jay added.

"The others?" Moses jumped to his feet. "What didja do to them!?"

"Oh, they're just rotting away in the dungeon as we speak," Cashel replied.

"Jay!" Solon called. "Why don't you save yourself some agony and join me?"

"Don't even bother asking again, because my answer will always be no," Jay told him.

"Well, too bad. In a few minutes, you're going to reconsider my proposition. Cashel?"

"Exactly," Cashel added. "Now, shadows, attack!"

"We obey!" the imposters declared in unison.

The shadows rushed into battle, and Jay and Moses rushed in to meet them head on. Moses tried to attack with his spear, but Shadow Shirley grabbed his arm, jabbing him in the stomach.

Jay blocked a front kick from Shadow Senel, and responded with a quick kick of his own. The shadows of Will and Chloe came in from either side with an overhead attack with their respective weapons. Jay backflipped out of the way.

Moses staggered back, crossing his arms in front of him, blocking Shadow Shirley's attacks to his groin.

"Ahh! Come on! Hey, don't hit me there!" he cried.

As Moses continued to defend his manhood (in more ways than one), Shadow Norma ran behind the bandit, kicking him directly in the rear.

"Gah! Right in the butt!" Moses cried as he staggered forward.

During Moses' forward momentum, Shadow Shirley delivered a hard kick to the groin.

"Gaaaahhh!" Moses screamed even louder as he held his groin, dropping to his knees. "Dammit...my manhood..."

"Wyrm Crush!" Shadow Senel pummeled Jay with his rapid punch eres. He then knocked Jay into the air, then leaped after him, performing his Phoenix Strike move, striking Jay in midair. Jay cried out as he spun uncontrollably in the air, crashing roughly on the ground beside Moses.

"Excellent!" Cashel called.

"Bravo!" Solon applauded.

Both the bandit and the information dealer lay in a heap, groaning in pain.

"The-The-The p-p-p-pain..." Moses whined.

"Ah!" Jay gasped.

When they felt the imposters closing in on them, they both sprang to their feet, resuming their battle stances back to back. They watched closely as the shadows surrounded them, slowly moving closer.

"I can feel the tension rising within me," Solon remarked. "It's truly invigorating."

"Indeed," Cashel said.

"So how ya doin' there, bro?" Moses asked.

"Not good..." Jay said. "They are truly combat efficient, and I should have expected as much. It doesn't help that I'm being forced to hold back either."

"No kiddin'. I can't do jack without my eres, and I even lost my manhood! So Jay, since I lost my manhood, can I borrow yers?"

Jay rolled his eyes before replying, "Definitely not!"

"Damn!"

The pair eyed the shadows another time, and nodded to each other. Suddenly, they ran in separate directions, quickly slipping past the shadows, who split up to pursue them. Moses simply ran around the battlefield with the shadows of Norma, Grune, and Moses chasing him. Moses came to a complete halt as Shadow Will moved in front of him. The shadow made a series of large, heavy swings with his hammer, which Moses dodged.

"Yaaahhh!!" Shadow Chloe rushed in from behind, raising her sword.

"Uh-oh!" As Moses was still wrestling with Shadow Will's hammer, he lifted his spear above his head, blocking Shadow Chloe's overhead sword stroke.

Moses found himself in between the shadows, who swung their weapons at him in different angles. Moses yelped as he dodged the attacks by moving, rolling, jumping, and flipping. He squeezed out from between them as Shadow Chloe swung her sword again, slicing a few locks of his red hair. Moses yelled out again as he fled, with the shadows chasing him again.

While Jay was defending from Shadow Shirley's attacks, Shadow Senel gave him a jump kick to the chest, knocking the boy to the ground. Shadow Senel moved in, stomping hard on Jay's knee. Jay cried out in pain, then kicked the imposter's groin with his other foot, and then kicked his head while he was doubled over, knocking him to the ground.

Jay jumped to his feet, going after Shadow Shirley, swiping his dagger at her. Shadow Shirley dodged the first few swipes, then began to parry with her quill. Jay tried a few knife thrusts, eventually cutting Shadow Shirley's forearm. Although the shadow winced in pain, Jay noticed that there was no visible wound on her. After all, she was just a shadow.

Putting aside the thought, Jay followed up with an overhead dagger attack. When Shadow Shirley blocked it, Jay threw a side kick to her stomach. The shadow doubled over, then suddenly released a large gray teriques, which slammed into Jay and sent him crashing into the entrance to the ruins. He then dropped to one knee, coughing.

Moses joined Jay at the entrance, throwing his arms around the boy. "Waaahhh!"

Jay pushed him away forcefully, swiping his dagger at him.

"Whoa, hold it!" Moses exclaimed.

Jay's eyes widened. "Moses? I thought you were one of them."

"I ain't one of them, I'm one of me! And I wanna stay in one piece!"

Jay ignored the comment. "We can't defeat them like this. We have to retreat. I have an idea. Just stay beside me, and follow my lead."

Moses stood beside Jay, and they both leaned against the seal of the ruins. "Right!"

Jay looked ahead, noticing that Shadow Will was casting a spell, but only caught the last part of the incantation.

"Roar forth this once, and show us thy power!"

But it was enough for Jay to recognize the spell. "Oh no...not Big Bang..."

Moses' eyes widened. "Big Bang?"

"Big Bang!" Shadow Will thrust his arm out, unleashing his spell.

"Now!" Jay called. As the energy began to form around them, Jay pressed his hands against the wall behind him, opening the seal with his eres.

"Bang!" Moses and Jay called in unison as they ran down the steps into the ruins, narrowly avoiding the explosion from Shadow Will's spell.

"What!?" Cashel exclaimed upon seeing the open ruins. "Impossible! There's no way they could have opened that seal without their eres!"

"I noticed that you didn't create a shadow of Jay," Solon pointed out.

"That's because it only works when they use their eres," Cashel told him. "And somehow, that brat refrained from using any of his eres."

"And yet he inconspicuously used his eres to open the ruins," Solon said. "Clever, isn't it? How can you not admire cunning like that?"

"Grr!" Cashel ran to the entrance. "What are you waiting for!? After them!"

The shadows backed away from the entrance.

"What are you doing!? I said go after them!"

Somewhere down the steps, Jay and Moses heard Cashel's ranting.

"This is an outrage! You're supposed to obey my every command! And I command you to go after them!"

"Those imposters refuse to enter the ruins," Jay said. "Interesting."

Moses gave him a look. "What's so interestin' about it?"

"Well, they won't come after us, for one thing. Let's find a safer spot, and then we'll talk about it."

"Right."

Jay and Moses began to head deeper into the Secret Passageway.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Senel and the party members sat in the center of a prison cell in the Hidden Fortress. They all sat, trying to tend to the severely wounded Chloe the best they could. Senel held Chloe in his arms, shaking her gently.

"Chloe, hold on!" he pleaded. "Please hold on!"

Norma shook her head. "Without our eres, we can't even heal her!"

"But we have to do something!" Shirley said.

"Chloe, wake up!" Senel cried.

Chloe's eyes fluttered open, but her body never moved. She merely looked up at Senel.

"Coolidge..." Her voice sounded weak and pitiful. "I'm sorry...about...what I said...before..."

"That's not important right now!" Senel insisted. "Just save your strength!"

"C...Coolidge..." Chloe failed to finish her sentence, as her eyes closed softly.

"Chloe? Hey!" Senel looked at her again. He pressed her fingers to her neck to feel her pulse.

"Senel, she stopped breathing!" Shirley exclaimed.

The party gasped.

"Chloe, don't go!" Senel cried. "Dammit! Get back, everyone!"

Everyone moved back as Senel leaned in, pressing his mouth against Chloe's. He began to blow into her mouth, stopping to press on her abdomen occasionally.

"Oooh!" Norma cooed with a smirk.

"Come on, Chloe..." Senel muttered as he pressed his mouth against hers again.

Finally, Chloe jerked as she began coughing and gasping to catch her breath.

"Ah, she's alive!" Shirley said, relieved.

"Good job, Senel," Will said, patting Senel's shoulder.

"Smooth move, loverboy," Norma gushed.

Shirley stood up, glaring at her.

"Huh?" Norma stood up as well, facing Shirley.

Shirley pulled her hand back, slapping Norma across the face with curled fingers. "This isn't the time for jokes, Norma!"

"Ow!" Norma watched as Shirley went over to the cell door. "What's gotten into her?"

"You can hardly blame her," Will said. "Senel just saved Chloe's life, and that's not something to joke about."

"Seriously," Senel agreed.

"Oh...Norma, you're bleeding," Grune said sweetly.

"Huh?" Norma touched her face again, and sure enough, there was blood on her hand. "Jeez, Shirl, what kind of claws do you have?"

Ignoring the question, Shirley addressed the guards standing outside the cell.

"Excuse me, but our friend Chloe is terribly injured."

"So?" the guard responded.

"But she'll die if you don't do something!"

"So? We don't care what happens to her, or any of you for that matter. You'll all die soon enough anyway. That woman will be lucky as the first to go."

"How can you say that?"

Norma went up to the door, pushing Shirley aside. "Move over, Shirl, I'll take care of this guy."

Shirley moved back, rejoining the others in the middle of the cell.

"Hey you!" Norma addressed the guard. "You'd better give us some first aid, or else!"

"Or else what?" the guard responded.

"Or else I'll...I'll bite! Yeah, that's what I'll do! How about that, huh?"

The guard turned to face her. "Oh yeah? Why don't you try it?"

"Okay, you asked for it! Come on!" Norma lunged her head between the bars, trying to bite the guard's face. The guard stepped out of reach, somewhat startled.

"Come on! Arf, arf!" Norma barked as she continued to lash out at the guard, "Arf, arf!"

"Norma, cut it out!" Senel yelled. "Now you're just being ridiculous!"

"I'm not stopping until I bite this guy!" Norma called, before addressing the guard again. "So get your ass over here and let me bite you! Arf, arf!"

Will stood up and walked over to Norma, who backed away from the door. He then held out his palm face down and lowered his arm as if to command a dog. "Norma. Sit."

"Aww..." Norma sat on the floor.

"Dammit!" Senel growled. "We can't just sit here!"

"While we're stuck in a dungeon without our eres, I'm afraid there's nothing we can do," Will said. "It appears that Vaclav has beaten us."

"Dammit!" Senel cursed again. "We can't let them beat us this way!"

"Don't lose hope, you guys," Shirley said. "Moses and Jay are still out there."

"But can they beat all of Cashel's imposters?" Senel asked. "Especially if they lose their eres, too?"

"Senel's right," Will added. "If they lose their eres, they'll be outnumbered eight to two. So they'll be at an even bigger disadvantage than we were. They wouldn't stand a chance."

"Oh no..." Grune smiled. "I think Moses and Jay will win."

Everyone gave her an odd look.

"How do you figure that?" Senel dared to ask.

Grune pondered for a moment. "Well, Jay is smart..."

"And Red is stupid," Norma sad. "We know that already, G-Girl."

Grune pondered the comment, then moved on. "Well, Jay is smart, and Moses is strong. I'm sure they'll win."

"But they have to get out of bed first," Norma pointed out.

Will stood up and bonked her on the head.

"Ow!"

"Hey!" the guard yelled from inside the cell. "Shut up in there, will ya?"

The group stopped and merely shrugged.

---------------------

Meanwhile, Moses and Jay were still hiding in the Secret Passageway.

"All right, we have a mystery on our hands," Jay said, "so let's go over what's happened."

"What is there to go over!?" Moses snapped. "We got our butts kicked, plain and simple."

"Well, we found out that Cashel created those shadows by stealing the eres from the host," Jay said. "And he can only do it when the host uses their eres."

"Ah yeah, that bastard sucked up my eres! Forget this cowboy crap!" In a quick motion, mosts ripped off his pants, leaving his red briefs, and threw the pants aside. He then began to step forward, cocking his hips. "The freakin' hodunk-podunk, well then there, shadow suckers! Those stupid asshole shadows tryin' to ruin our day!"

Upon watching the bandit's pants ripped off, Jay's eyes widened to twice their size, and he clutches his chest tightly as he felt his heart bulge. He staggered back against the wall, sinking to the floor.

"I'm goin' back out there to finish off those shadows!" Moses yelled.

"N-N-No, you idiot!" Jay gasped.

"What!?"

"If you go back out there, they'll put your butt on a platter," Jay said, still shaking. "We need to devise a strategy first."

"We ain't gonna win by talkin'! We gotta go out there and fight!"

"You were actually fighting? From what I saw, you were just running around like a headless chicken."

"Hey!" Moses protested.

"And unlike you, I actually learned something from the battle," Jay went on.

"Really? Like what, Mr. Smarty Pants?"

"Those imposters are nothing more than shadows. They can't be harmed, which means that they can't be defeated in traditional combat."

Moses scratched his head. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means we can't win by fighting them. We need to find their weakness and exploit it."

Moses grinned. "Right! Uh...what's their weakness?"

"I suspect it may have something to do with their refusal to enter the ruins. But the question is, why would they refuse to enter the ruins?"

Moses grinned again. "Well, that's easy. No light, no shadow."

Jay's eyes lit up as he placed a hand on Moses' abdomen. "Moses, say that again."

"That again," Moses said.

"No, what you said just now!"

"No, what you said just now," Moses repeated.

"No, no, no!" Jay cried.

"No, no, no!"

Jay gave up. "Never mind! I have an idea."

"Never mind! I have an idea!"

"Ugh!" Jay threw an open-handed slap to Moses' face.

"Ow! What in the hell was that for!?"

"You bumbling idiot!" Jay shouted. "You're allergic to intelligence!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that any shred of intelligence in your being makes you even stupider!"

"Are ya angry, Jay? That's bad for yer health, ya know."

Jay rolled his eyes. "What's bad for my health is watching you rip off your pants. It's a shock to the system!"

"Oh, whatever! So what's yer big idea?"

Jay let out a sigh. "Instead of fighting those shadows, we have to throw them off guard."

"Huh?" Moses scratched his head. "How do we do that?"

"Okay, here's the plan..." Jay pulled the bandit close, whispering the plan into his ear.

Moses pulled back, startled. "What the hell kinda plan is that!?"

"I don't like it either," Jay admitted. "This is perhaps the most ridiculous plan I've ever devised. But if the enemy thinks the same, then we may have our opening."

"Whoo! All right! Let's go bust up those shadows! Yeehaw!" Moses turned and began to run down the passageway.

"Moses, wait! Wait! Moses!" Jay called after him. "You forgot your pants!!"

_Stupid bandit..._


End file.
